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Anthony Edwards’ dunk to Kevin Durant was a defining moment in the NBA

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“Passing the Torch” feels like a loving exchange between two people. Think about how you’ll handle a torch – rigorously holding it in your hand while being careful not to move too quickly in order not to burn the person you’re giving it to. I imagine each people’s eyes staring into the fire, knowing that the flame needs to be controlled, but in addition being wary that the wayward embers could break down and hurt someone. When the torch is finally exchanged, there’s likely a nod of acceptance and relief that nobody was hurt. It’s calm.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards’ series-ending dunk to Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant on Sunday, ending the Timberwolves’ four-game winning streak over the Suns, was anything but quiet. It was a violent, explosive dunk that first caught the torch and cemented Edwards as the future, leaving Durant empty-handed in the twilight of his profession.

Even though Durant’s Suns entered the series against Edwards’ Timberwolves sixth in the standings, this was likely the biggest upset of the first round. The Timberwolves were immature, young and prone to late-season meltdowns similar to they did two years ago after they blew the most double-digit fourth-quarter leads in history playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies and last yr, when their team fell on a throw by Wolves center Rudy Gobert hits his teammate, forward Kyle Anderson. If any team was going to fold against a veteran team like Phoenix – led by Durant, who has 4 NBA Finals appearances and two championships under his belt – that might be the Timberwolves.

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That’s where Edwards comes in.

At just 22 years old, Edwards had turn into the emotional leader and most significant player on a team that already had 16-year-old point guard Mike Conley, four-time All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and the aforementioned Gobert, who won three-time Defensive Player of the Year. Edwards has made no secret of his admiration and adoration for Durant, who entered the league when Edwards was still in elementary school. But Edwards continued to attack his hero – he was talking trash from the moment he first played isolation on Durant – and never relented, culminating in a decisive 40-point performance in Game 4 that worn out Durant’s respectable 33 points.

We’ve never seen Durant so completely defeated in a playoff series, especially since he was in great form. The considered anyone having the ability to seemingly demoralize considered one of the biggest scorers in league history seemed inconceivable at the starting of the franchise, let alone years ago when Durant was dominating the NBA with the Golden State Warriors. But it happened with utter destruction.

Which brings us back to the dunk.

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Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (left) and Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (right) talk during the second half of the Western Conference first-round game at the Target Center on April 20 in Minneapolis.

Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

Each yr brings its share of memorable dunks, but it surely’s rare that a single moment of airborne impact can change the trajectory of a sport.

In 1983, NBA great Julius Erving had his way legendary dunk over Los Angeles Lakers guard Michael Cooper, noting that this was his yr of being the best in the league and its champion. In 1991, Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan previously shook two New York Knicks players dunk to Knicks center Patrick Ewing on the way to his first championship. The dunk marked Jordan’s emergence as the latest king of the game. In 1994, Warriors center Chris Webber invoked one other changing of the guard before taking the ball behind his back. dunking on Suns forward Charles Barkleysignaling that a latest generation of power forwards who took their influence from Barkley, the Round Mound of the Rebound, would soon take over the NBA.

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Edwards over KD caused the same kind of tectonic shift.

With lower than two minutes left in the fourth, Edwards placed Beal in isolation. Dribbling between the legs. Left hand hesitation. The first step that moved at supersonic speeds. And the elevation. Durant began to jump to block but realized he couldn’t reach the top of Edwards. So he jumped out mid-jump. But his body was still present enough to be eviscerated by the fury of the impact.

It’s an apt metaphor for the show: Durant realizes for the first time in his profession that he cannot reach the heights of his opponent.

It have to be a humbling feeling that will be felt across the league as luminaries of my generation see their sporting mortality. We are already facing a play-off in which LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Durant is not going to make it out of the first round. We’re just days away from the possibility of Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic becoming the only MVP winner to advance to the second round this season. Perhaps previous champions will get a second and third wind in the coming years, but these deep playoff runs feel more like one-offs than signs of recent dynasties. But Durant has the most extraordinary profession of those greats and a future that seems the scariest.

Durant’s Suns have it no first-round draft picks from 2025 to 2030. He has already expressed frustration with the way he was used in the Phoenix offense. Can he force a departure, which might send him to his third team since leaving Golden State in 2019 and the fifth team of his profession, or will he remain with a Suns organization that has no path to a championship ahead of him? and his “only” two titles after joining a Warriors team that had just broken the regular season games record. Either way, Durant’s profession might be difficult to quantify.

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He will finish his profession in the top 10 in all-time points scored, and with two Finals appearances under his belt, he may never have a statue built in front of an NBA arena. Durant has played on some version of the super team that’s the Big Three for the last 15 years, and since leaving the Warriors in 2019, he has failed to make it past the second round. Sure, there are some unique circumstances behind the disappointments, but Durant was the leader of every of those teams.

This season, teaming up with Devin Booker (who scored 49 points on Sunday) and Bradley Beal was supposed to be his best probability to break that spell. However, the whole lot fell apart faster than anyone expected. Now Durant looks to a future that’s falling apart.

The Minnesota Timberwolves watch Anthony Edwards dunk during a game against the Phoenix Suns during Game 4 of the Western Conference first round on April 4 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix.

Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images

The unknown in all of that is what’s Edwards doing now? He was at all times going to eventually land after taking off to dunk Durant, but his profession was primed for continued growth. His next opponent is the league’s current immovable object in the type of two-time MVP Jokic.

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While the Nuggets might be the favorites, the results of this series won’t be as telling as what happens in the coming years. Edwards, along with his gritty defense, million-dollar smile, atomic dunks and off-balance attitude, began the season next, but now he’s on his way. He finds himself in a place he knows from every game: looking down on anyone who dares to get in his way before realizing there is no point in even trying.

This is what happens when you could have a torch and are ready to set fire to the whole lot that gets in your way.

DavidDennis Jr. is a senior author at Andscape and the writer of the award-winning book “The Movement Made Us: A Father, a Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride.” David is a graduate of Davidson College.

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After breaking the Caitlin Clark record for most points scored by 2 seasons, Juju Watkins did not have time to call

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With the start of the Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament, NCAA March Madness women’s basketball starts next week, Juju Watkins from the USC Trojans was busy. So busy, in reality she was unable to make a veteran of the star in her offer suggestions before tournaments.

Coach of the USC Trojan, Lindsay Gottlieb, revealed A recent podcast performance This College basketball star modified the star of WNBA, Caitlin Clark, proposed “Help (Watkins) moving.”

Speaking of Clark’s offer, a 19-year-old second-year student said People magazine That, although Clark’s support “means a lot”, she has not yet drawn up.

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“I haven’t arrived yet,” said the Trojan USC guard, adding: “I mean that I have this support, it means a lot.”

However, that is not a shade or disrespect. A rising university basketball star, which has just been possible to transform history (*2*)exceeding Clark in most points gained in the first two seasons of his profession in CollegeHe really focused on the game. He also balances school, life and a few quite large brands NikeIN Nyx cosmeticsAND Deodorant.

Her team may not overcome his rivals, Ucla Bruins, in the conference tournament of the Great Ten, but Trojans can be expected No. 1 grain In the upcoming tournament it begins on Wednesday, March 19, and so they were even preferred to win.

Watkins told people how much a “big fan” is from Clark. From her opinion, Clark “kills him” during his first season in WNBA, playing in Indiana Fever.

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“I am always proud and cheer her,” she added.

“She is simply a super drug person, and for her it means a lot,” says about Clark’s offer. “But I haven’t arrived yet.”

Watkins added that despite the indisputable fact that she is prepared to break much more NCAA records, her band “definitely the first and everything else after”.

5 things you should know about Junior Bridgeman - a former NBA player who changed a billionaire businessman - who died at the age of 71

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“CROSE You Cross The Line”: Lebron James breaks silence on what “stumbled” during an explosive confrontation with Stephen A. Smith

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Stephen A. Smith addressed viral spat with LeBron James after fans said he was shook by the NBA player

Lebron James will not be a fan of Stephen A. Smith’s narrative was associated with a hot confrontation. The attacker Los Angeles Lakers Angryn approached the host “First Take” during the duel with New York Knicks from March 6.

As the fans observed, the Olympian explained to the Sport commentator that he didn’t want his son, Brony James, 40 years old, mentioned in NBA Smith’s breakdowns.

Before Tipoff within the Lakers-Celtics match on March 9, the basketball icon and co-host of “NBA on ESPN” Richard Jefferson briefly discussed the viral incident. The video from the banter appeared on the web, abandoning insight into what James thinks about his description of the moment.

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Stephen A. Smith turned to the viral mat with Lebron James after the fans said he shook him with the fiery defense of Brony James by the NBA player. (Photo Stephen A. Smith / Instagram; Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
Stephen A. Smith turned to the viral mat with Lebron James after the fans said he shook him with the fiery defense of Brony James by the NBA player. (Photo Stephen A. Smith / Instagram; Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)

Audio in a stuffed material suggests that Jefferson asked his former teammate a couple of test. James will be heard: “This is the only thing I stumble … I don’t give AF – K” and “When he says how” I’m begging you as a father: “I can’t.”

Smith offered a summary of the meeting within the episode “First Take” from March 7, in addition to in “The Stephen A. Smith Show” on YouTube.

In the latter he said: “He was not a basketball player talking to me last night. It was dad. He turned to me as a father. It wasn’t a basketball player for me. “

The same fondness for what he made available on his television program. He also critically released the league star for making his son to criticize to serve the dream of playing in the identical team as his son before retiring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NNU2HQHEQS

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Brony was developed by Lakers in 2024 after one season on the University of Southern California. Smith is one in every of the numerous critics who think that the 20-year-old will not be yet equipped with the flexibility to realize success within the NBA.

However, due to James’ recent contribution, the fans expressed a brand new range of response.

According to 1 Tweter“When you rate a man as a father, you crossed the line. That is why Lebron approached him. “On YouTubeWhere you can even find the sound of James and Jefferson, someone suggested that the Master’s 4 -time behavior only intensified Brony’s control.

“It’s like a football dad, who exposes himself to his son. But his son is 22 years old !! He thinks he helps – but he must let his son stand alone, “wrote one viewer.

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The third commentator entered: “Lebron always with a drama, his ego sneaks out of control, thinks that he makes him a great dad, please retire to have peace of mind.”

James has been within the league for 22 years and has not announced his retirement plans, despite the fact that he was the oldest player on the pitch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjoz-vtwgiw

(Tagstranslat) Brony James (T) Lebron James (T) Stephen A. Smith

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Even when Rhyne Howard plays unmatched, Florida Gators still feels the influence of WNBA star

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When Atlanta Dream Player Rhyne Howard He was a second -year student at Bradley Central High School in Tennessee, a basketball coach of the girl Jason Reuter, once confronted Howard because of a poor game. Later, Howard’s mother, Rhvonja Avery, told Reuter that she was not hard enough for her daughter and threatened to withdraw her from the program.

“She said it with a giggle, but deep down I believe that she meant,” said Reuter. “You usually get the opposite:” You’re too hard for my daughter. ” I had a mother with a strong will who wanted me to push her daughter. “

Dream selected Howard with the first alternative in 2022 WNBA Draft. However, her mother’s witness presses her success, inspired Howard to proceed coaching. From October 2023In the period outside of Women’s basketball team from the University of Floridaby which her mother played in 1987–1991. However, this season Howard takes a break from the program to play in an unmatched, skilled women’s basketball league 3 out of 3, which began in January. Howard Winyl basketball club in unmatched semi -finals on Sunday.

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“Watching how my mother does a lot of victims for me and always tries to do what is best for me, even if it meant to take up another work (and) of seeing the strength that she could keep, caring for me, I had someone to look at,” said Howard.

Florida ended 16-16 Generally in the first season of Howard with the program. Although this yr he’s outside the band, Howard is still watching every game and stays involved with players through SMS and telephone, updating their time in an unparalleled time when they tell her about their lives in Gainesville, Florida.

Howard wants to present Florid’s players a greater understanding of what it’s good to get to WNBA. She remembered that in her stay at the University of Kentucky (2018-2022)Some of her trainers had the previous WNBA experience, and Howard wanted to reveal the collegiate players to the current league dynamics through her lens. According to Washington PostEight other lively WNBA players played a job in the university program in the 2023-2024 season.

Coach in Florida Kelly Rae Finley She believes that her team uses an lively WNBA player at their disposal.

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“This is a huge and unique opportunity for our sports students to share experiences and learn from someone who does what many aspires to,” said Finley.

One of the players Howard poured into the other guard in Florida Throne Renenols. Reynolds began the whole game as a primary -year student in 2023, on average seven points per match. This season there was a five -star recruit has a mean of 10.5 points per match. Her assists also increased, growing from 32 last yr to 72 this yr.

Reynolds attributes Howard to her unevenness in its numbers this season. Howard often worked with Reynolds during training, when Howard was with the team in the 2023-24 season. They each focused on developing Reynolds’s hill by practicing the foundations of shots and watching the movie to construct a mental understanding of Reynolds basketball.

She also learned from Howard’s ethics. Reynolds watched Howard as she practiced, a note about how she trained and various ways she shot.

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She said Howard never hesitated to criticize Reynolds. Howard always reminded Reynolds to make her confidence throughout the first yr, and believes that it helped her in the second season.

Reynolds said that she and Howard talked on the phone about twice a month this season. During the connections, Howard told Reynolds that she is proud of her too well coping with the season, and Reynolds thinks that her experience with Howard helps her closer to WNBA.

“Having a coach Rye on staff shows me what you need to get to a higher level, both on the pitch and outside,” said Reynolds. “The ability to observe her work and how to wear is significant when it comes to my goals. My game has definitely improved thanks to her instructions and support. ”

Florida Center Ra Shaya Kyle He said that Howard’s experience in the WNBA and South -Eastern conference (SEC) and as a trainer he helped her improve her skills.

“Coach Rhy also helped me understand what you need to succeed at the highest level,” said Kyle. “Her advice was very valuable in shaping the way of thinking for the challenges I can face.”

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Howard’s advice is just not limited to Lady Gators. Her teammates in incomparably, where it’s going to cause you 20.5 points per match In the case of a vinyl basketball club, she also used her instructions.

When the vinyl guard Rae Burrell She faced the player training during the session at the starting of this season, Howard, recognizing his teammate’s opponent, he rhetorically asked Burrell: “Do you know who you are?” remind her of her value.

“I always have confidence in me,” Burrell said. “He likes you to challenge you a bit and tell you a bit of a mess to shoot you, but you know that he comes from the place where you want to be better. He says many tips: “You must have raised something otherwise you had a ride.” He will always tell me or another teammate. “

Vinyl trainer Teresa Weatherspoon believes that Howard’s coaching experience contributes to her openness.

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“Rhyne is very attentive, vigilant and aware of the situation on the floor, and she says,” said Weatherspoon. “He uses a voice and coaching causes you to use your voice a little more because you are trying to put many players on success.”

Howard was not at all times voice. Reuter said that Howard led an example more in highschool, but when she said, her words transferred the importance. Although Reuter believes that Howard has grow to be greater over time, he thinks that making decisions has at all times been her strength.

“It is cerebral when it comes to thinking in advance,” said Reuter. “If you have to make 100 decisions in the basketball game, he will make the right decisions 99 at 100 times and I think that this attribute is to be a trainer.”

Howard, 24 years old, doesn’t plan to coach long -term, but believes that her closeness at the age of Lady Gators makes it easier for players to attach along with her.

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“Only because I am so young, they have the opportunity to talk to me a bit when we practice and we always want to go with me back,” said Howard. “I say:” Ok, I understand what you might be doing. ”

“This is a well -known aspect of what I am capable of (on the pitch), but the ability to have this friendly banter and their comfortable to do it with me and still have good relationships, know that I am still their trainer, but we can also have a little fun.”

Joshua Heron is an independent sports journalist dedicated to the humanization of athletes by telling stories. He was born in New York, but he considers himself an actual “Yaad Man” because of his Jamaican education. If you get to know him well enough, “Wah Gwan” will probably grow to be part of your vocabulary.

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